West Cary Group appoints Andy Azula as Creative Chief

West Cary Group has appointed Andy Azula as Executive Creative Director, bringing a former Martin Agency creative leader into the independent agency's senior team.

Azula joins the Richmond-based business after more than two decades in advertising and marketing at The Martin Agency, McCann and Great Minds. His past work includes assignments for Microsoft, UPS, Walmart and Pizza Hut.

He will work with Chief Creative Officer Debra Fitzgerald and the wider creative team, with a brief to raise the standard of work across the client portfolio and bring creative thinking earlier into the development of brand and business programmes.

West Cary Group employs about 120 people and works across advertising, technology and communications. Its clients include Capital One, Fannie Mae, Blue Ridge Bank, ABNB Federal Credit Union, MHV Credit Union, the City of Philadelphia, Richmond International Airport and the Virginia Department of Health.

Azula is best known for senior creative work on major brand campaigns, including Microsoft's global business through m:united and UPS's "What Can Brown Do For You?" advertising. He also appeared on camera in television commercials for the UPS campaign.

The appointment comes as the agency pursues larger national brand assignments while expanding its work for existing clients. It also reflects broader demand for projects that link brand strategy, performance marketing, customer experience and technology.

President and Chief Executive Officer Moses Foster said the hire supports the agency's effort to combine creative work with measurable business results.

"Often, our industry treats creativity and accountability as competing ideas. The strongest agencies deliver both," said Moses Foster, President and Chief Executive Officer, West Cary Group.

"We're building a technologically sophisticated, analytically driven agency with the creative firepower to compete with anyone. Andy understands how to connect strategic rigor and measurable outcomes with work that makes people feel something. His experience strengthens our ability to pursue larger national campaigns and bring more ambitious ideas to our existing clients," Foster said.

Creative direction

Fitzgerald said Azula's background matches the direction of the agency's creative work and is part of a broader effort to improve output as it targets larger opportunities.

"When I think about the trajectory of our creative product, Andy's depth of experience and innovative vision align perfectly with where we're headed," said Debra Fitzgerald, Chief Creative Officer, West Cary Group.

"His breakthrough work, commitment to creative excellence, and ability to see what's next will help us raise the bar and accelerate WCG's next chapter," Fitzgerald said.

Before taking the role, Azula spent several months collaborating with the agency, a period that gave him a closer look at its staff, clients and ambitions.

"I wasn't really looking to go back to agency life full time, but the more time I spent with WCG, the more I saw the opportunity," said Andy Azula, Executive Creative Director, West Cary Group.

"They've already proven they can solve difficult problems for major brands. What excited me was the chance to build on that foundation with bigger, bolder creative work that gets noticed on a national scale, moves people and helps our clients grow. I realized I didn't just want to advise from the outside. I wanted to help make it happen," Azula said.

AI investment

Alongside the leadership change, West Cary Group is investing in artificial intelligence as it develops its services. The agency believes those tools could give teams more time to explore ideas and produce work that might previously have been too expensive or too slow to make.

That focus suggests the firm is trying to position itself where creative development, data analysis and technology increasingly overlap. For agencies outside the largest holding groups, senior hires with experience on international accounts can also help in pitches for bigger mandates.

Azula said new tools were changing the economics of creative production while leaving the central task of brand storytelling unchanged.

"What excites me is that we suddenly have tools that let us make things our brains could imagine but we could never afford to make before," said Azula.

"It's a new puzzle, and none of us really knows how many pieces are in the box yet. But the problem we're solving is still the same. We need to reach people with our stories. We need to build brands people love," Azula said.